Policy Shift On `West Wing'

MIDSEASON TV PREVIEW

A New Chief Executive Behind The White House Drama Steers The Series Toward More Predictable Tv Territory.

January 16, 2004|By Hal Boedeker, Sentinel Television Critic

LOS ANGELES -- President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) is still in the White House, but The West Wing is a different show this season. The stars agree.

The Emmy-winning NBC drama has made a necessary shift in tone since Bartlet's daughter was kidnapped, says Richard Schiff, who plays communications director Toby Ziegler.

Former executive producer Aaron Sorkin "created a very romantic world with The West Wing, and time is running out on that kind of romantic honeymoon," Schiff says. "We're no longer really a romantic entity. It's more a reality-driven drama now. . . . It's only so long that you can have a honeymoon, as we all know."

Bradley Whitford, who portrays deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman, says that Sorkin's departure at last season's end was disorienting.

"I always say being on a one-hour drama is like being in an acting cult, and it's like David Koresh left," he says.

Television critics and NBC executives laugh at the comparison. But Whitford says the cast fretted that the scripts and characters might not hold up. He maintains the writing staff that replaced the hands-on Sorkin has held to the show's high standards.

Many critics and fans have been less generous, faulting the show for bewildering twists and an erratic run of episodes. Yet even executive producer John Wells, who has guided the show since Sorkin left, acknowledges the show had to change.

"I don't write the way that Aaron does," he says. "I've tried hard to write some of what he did because I don't want it to seem so jarringly different to people who like the show. At the same time, Aaron's talent is huge and very specific, and what he does better than anyone else is this extraordinary repartee, the dialogue, the wit, the pace. I couldn't replicate that if I wanted to, and believe me, I've tried."

Wells, the executive producer of ER and Third Watch, says he has fallen back on what he does best rather than try to emulate Sorkin. Wells says his strong suit is drama.

NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker says he's pleased with the show's performance. He's not worried that the show's audience in the 18-to-49 demographic has declined 10 percent from a year ago -- an NBC publicist later says it's down 16 percent. Numbers aside, NBC has bigger problems to consider, such as life without Friends.

Wells has done a good job, Zucker says, and Sorkin's wanting out after four hard years was understandable.

"After writing 88 episodes of any show, I think it would be hard for anyone to keep that going," Zucker says. "I think change is good."

Sorkin still has a hand in the show, Wells says. He lunches with Wells once a month, receives all the scripts and makes his views known.

In three upcoming episodes, Jay Mohr will appear as a conservative talk-show host who engages in a debate with press secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney) on his cable program.

The portrayal of Mohr's character should be fascinating. Wells says he thinks that the discourse on some conservative programs could use a little balance. He dismisses the view that The West Wing is slanted one way politically.

"It's a far more centrist Democratic White House than I think we actually get credit for," he says. "There's sort of a general perception that it's remarkably liberal, and it's not."

The show employs writers and advisers who are Democrats and Republicans. Wells describes the fictional White House as being moderate on such issues as the economy and use of force. Even so, many detractors have complained about a liberal slant all through the five-year run.

"Aaron got a bit of a bum rap," Wells says. "Some of the more conservative talk-show hosts picked up on certain issues and used that as an example of what the whole show's position was. As these new DVDs come out and people watch them again, you'll see the positions are very centrist."

The Bartlet administration will inevitably be compared to the real White House. The show presented a hopeful view as scandal overshadowed the Clinton administration. Detractors have complained that it's irrelevant with George W. Bush as the nation's leader.

"We have a very conservative White House right now," Wells says. "When put in contrast with our existing White House, it feels like these are much more liberal positions. But the positions have been seen to be centrist Democratic positions for generations."

The show strives to present both points of view on most issues, Wells says. "The only thing that I think we haven't always been fair on is gun control," he adds. The producers don't think the opponents of gun control have a strong enough argument.

Otherwise, giving both political viewpoints has its advantages in the writing.

"Our first consideration is what's dramatic," Wells says. "Both sides make for an argument, and good scenes make for people disagreeing. You don't want the other side to simply be a straw man that's just there to get knocked down by your remarkably intelligent argument. But that said, our people need to win on the show. That's the entertainment decision that you make. They lose too, but you want them to win more than they lose."